


lessons learned

by dreamember



Series: prompt table [3]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: I can only apologise, M/M, welcome to angst central
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 17:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2702051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamember/pseuds/dreamember
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seth realises something when he gets backstage. (Set after the August 1st episode of Smackdown)</p><p>Word: “realisation”</p>
            </blockquote>





	lessons learned

**Author's Note:**

> I threw this together while waiting for the train today, after this match suddenly appeared (its amazing where you find yourself after clicking through the related videos on YouTube). I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but here's Seth having a lot of feelings.

_"We seem to realize things when it’s too late to fix it... call them lessons learned"_

* * *

 

_(“I loved you, Seth.”)_

He slumps against the wall, bare back sliding down the off-white paint as his knees finally buckle. He can feel the wall as it scratches and breaks his skin. It should sting, but there’s nothing. He’s numb and feels... feels like he’s. Like he’s  _weightless_. He’s there in person, of course, but his mind, his heart,  _his_   _entire being_ … he’s pretty sure he left those in the ring. Shattered into pieces and spread across the canvas. There's nobody to pick up the pieces now.

_(“I loved you, Seth.”)_

The feel of calloused fingers digging into his cheeks still lingers. His jaw tingles where wrist tape rubbed against his beard. He brings his hand up, his own fingers ghosting over all the places he was touched. A feeling of wanting and longing begins to settle in the pit of his stomach, a heavy weight in his heart.

_(“I loved you, Seth.”)_

The voice rings loud and clear, like a gunshot in an empty room. The sound reverberates, bouncing off the walls, before firing through him with force. It leaves a dull ache in his chest, and he suddenly like he’s been pried open. Like… like there’s  _something_   _missing_. He knows now. He knows now what that  _something_  is. What that  _something_  has been for weeks. And he hates himself. Hates himself for taking so long to realise. Hates himself for realising once they’ve passed the point of return. There’s no going back now. No fixing things, no putting things right.

_(“I loved you, Seth.”)_

He tips his head back, vision clouding with tears. There’s a lump in his throat that is swelling and suddenly it’s hard to breathe,  _too_  hard to breathe, and he can’t, he needs– God he needs  _him_ , he needs him more than ever but he can’t have him and he’s alone. All alone. A voice in the back of his mind is screaming at him, but it’s so faint, so distant. Not like the second voice, crystal clear, leaving no room for doubt.  _His own_. Saying the words he wishes he’d said before all this, before it was too late. The words he wishes he’d said before he threw everything he never knew he wanted away...

_(“I loved you, Seth.”)_

“I loved you too, Dean.”


End file.
